PlanetCatfish.com

Never heard of this one, but I see it's in the Cat-eLog. My LFH has two of them, very healthy and lively, and I've staked my claim. They look like they might be a fast-water cat like decorus and brichardi. Are they, and how big do they get?

They are fast-water <i>Synodontis</i> and will grow to about 16 cm TL.

I was hoping you would say that. It sounds like they would go great with brichardi, then. And they sure are nice.

Axelrod's Atlas has a picture of what purports to be S. robertsi, but it looks more like a soloni. Not the same as the photo of S. robertsi in Sands's guide to Asian and Africans, and the ones in the Cat-eLog. What do you think?

And that one, in turn, isn't what my two so-called robertsi are. From Sands's book and the Cat-eLog, they're an exact match for koensis. A good thing I didn't name them Robbie and Bobbie.

I've had one for some time. Very nice and peaceful fish. Not as bold as most Tanganyika Synos, but bolder than most riverines. To be recommended.

As Silurus indicated (and as you can see from the streamlined shape), they come from the rapids immediately upriver of Malebo Pool (aka, "Stanley Pool", but I refuse to use that name because Stanely was an egotistical and racist a*****e).

Dinyar

Axelrod's Atlas is wrong. The picture of <i>S. robertsi</i> shows adult coloration of <i>S. soloni</i> (there is a picture of a juvenile <i>S. soloni</i> a few pages back).
<i>Synodontis robertsi</i> is a distinctive species that has large eyes.

I thought so. Edited my last posting before realising you had replied--sorry--because I just found out my so-called robertsi are in fact koensis. Anything I need to know about them? They're my only synos which are angelicus-compatible (to coin a phrase) so I wouldn't give them up for the world. They don't seem like a fast-water cat.

They're not fast-water cats. Maintain them as you would other riverine west African synos.

Got the soloni and they started feeding right away. They're quite comical.

Hello Chrisicthys,
can you explain on what you mean by "angelicus compatible"? Does that mean the solonis stay out of the way of the angelicus without too much stress or do they stand their ground, so to speak? Whats their behavior?

Just wondering as a future angelicus owner.

I have several soloni. They do not seem to be very aggressive. Mine get along with angelicus and several other large, more aggressive synos (in a big tank). The soloni get a little bigger and are more slender and elongate than robertsi. Once you have seen both species, it's pretty easy to tell them apart.